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Best Welder for my situation?

09-06-2005, 10:34 PM

I was wondering what would be the best Miller Tig welder I could get for my particular situation? The power input for the welder would be a single phase 220v circuit with a 50 amp breaker. I have a budget of $5000.00. Is this more money than I need to spend for a welder that will match up with the power I have to offer it? Does it pay to have a unit with a water cooler? Inverter model? I will probably be welding equal amounts of stainless steel, mild steel, and aluminum. I would like a machine that has the fewest limitations for the money and power I have. I have alot of experience MIG welding and limited experience with Arc welding and brazing.
I have never TIG welded before and am aware of the diffuculty, but know I would like to start out with a high quality unit. I have read many of the articles on the Miller web-site, but would love to have some feed-back from the people who are out there using these products, as well as some Miller tech feedback if possible.
Thanks,
Matt

Matt you didn't say what your requirements were for thickness etc but... as a general statement would tell you the Dynasty 200 DX is a hard act to follow; also well within your budget. I started out with a syncrowave SD180 and it's a fine machine but upgraded when the road show came to town and I had a chance to try a Dynasty 200 DX and to see what some of the real good welders could do with it. Lots of advantages to it. If you go over to the Hobart site you will find lots of good comments on it. By the way If your anywhere near me you could come by and try out the syncrowave 180 and the dynasty 200DX to get a good comparison. The next step up the power ladder would be a Dynasty 300 DX but equipped to use would be straining your stated budget.

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A Dynasty 200DX with a Coolmate 3 and a watercooled torch would be a great setup. You need to get a foot or fingertip control (I'd recommend the foot controller) and a water-cooled torch (a #20 with the superflex hoses from TIG Depot witht the correct connectors for the Dynasty) You would also need to get tungsten (1.5% lanthanated) and a tank of argon shielding gas (get as large a tank as you can easily handle). I ended up getting two 80cf tanks.

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I agree with the Dynasty 200DX. You'll have plenty of the budget left over for the Coolmate 3, and some NICE torches, cables, steel to build a cart with, Miller Big Window Elite autohood, and anything else you'll need that you don't already have.

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Thanks for the info guys. Im definetly looking at the 200DX but considering saving for a little while longer to get the 300DX. Harold, I actually live not far from you and drive by there everyday to go to work. Would love the chance to try the 200DX before I buy it. Thanks, again!

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If not too much more saving would be involved, I would definitely opt for the Dynasty 300DX Tigrunner with the Coolmate already to go in a nice cart and everything. It's a $5700 package with torches and everything except the gas.

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I love my D200DX, but if the cash is available for the Dynasty 300DX---DO IT! That is the greatest tig I've every used, I've welded down to 4 amps on .005 aluminum and up to 300 amps fixing cracked castings with one at the university. It is a drop everything else machine. A friend of mine used my 200DX and his shop now has a 300DX sitting on top of a sync 250 that doesn't even get turned on.

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Me think's the Dynasty DX is that much better! I too use my syncrowave 180 for a platform to hold my Dynasty 200 DX. The syncrowave hasn't been turned on here for many many months either. On the other hand it's a pretty good machine in it's own right hence I still have it taking up valuable space.

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I just got the 200DX and really like it. I guess if you need the requirements of even bigger, get the 300 model, but I think I'd rather use cash to buy bigger argon bottles that the 2 midsize bottles I got, and have both foot and hand control torches.
I used to have a maxstar 150 and liked it alot too, actually thought it ran better and started easier than the 200 DX which I think is saddled with alot of extra baggage having smart power (any input/phase voltage), least ways that's what I'm attributiing to it as same problem exists with maxstar 200 we have at work. The welding supply store recomended thermal arc 180 as best bang for buck and best product support, but I chose to stick with American made Miller after excellent results and product support with Maxstar I had and sold when moved up to Dynasty. I wanted alluminum capability in shop, tho yet to use it.

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Rev600:
The difference between the 2 is the differance between a 1965 Mack dumptruck and a 2005 Mack dump truck. Same brand, but much more updated and uses less energy, and alot of new features that may not be necessary for all users but the ones that are doing Aluminum or exotic metals nothing beats the Dynasty. I own a 200DX and have welded with a 300DX and I can't see me ever going back to a traditional transformer machine.

The real difference is that the normal traansformer, operate at 60Htz because that is the wave form of the incoming voltage, the inverters like the dynasty make it possible to adjust the Htz and by adjusting this you can adjust penetration and arc shape and even shake the puddle on alluminum to float out impurities.

The technology also makes it much more efficient, a syncrowave 250 will draw at full load something like 100 amps, whereas the Dynasty 300DX will draw a third as much. What this means is the electric meter doesn't spin as fast and your bill is less. It costs more up front but it will save alot during its lifetime.